Friday, January 29, is the deadline for nonprofit organizations in Inyo County to submit applications to the Inyo County Community Resiliency Grant program.

The county-funded grant program will provide up to $10,000 to local nonprofit organizations that play an important role in supporting our local economy, improving quality of life in Inyo County, and addressing unmet needs of those in our community most severely impacted by COVID-19. Inyo County recognizes that these nonprofit entities have continued to provide services with significant reductions in revenue due to the pandemic, so during adoption of the Inyo County 2020-21 budget, the Board of Supervisors allocated $100,000 of the County General Fund to support local economic and community resiliency, and to offset COVID-19 related economic hardships.

Additional terms, conditions and information and the online application can be found on the Inyo County webpage, www.inyocounty.us, under the Covid-19 response section titled Reopening Inyo Businesses. Interested organizations can also send questions via email to [email protected] or call 760-878-8457.

Individual, one-time grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded to successful nonprofit applicants that were financially impacted by COVID-19, including loss of program revenues and increased expenses. To be eligible to apply for the grants, nonprofit organizations must meet these minimal qualifications and conditions:

Losses must have occurred from March 1, 2020 through Dec. 30, 2020
Must adequately demonstrate that funding is necessary due to the financial impacts of COVID-19 and will be used to mitigate these impacts
Must be a legally organized Nonprofit Entity under Internal Revenue Code Section 501
Must primarily serve the residents of Inyo County
Must directly provide services or goods that are available to, or benefit, the general public
Cannot be exclusively engaged in lobbying
Cannot be primarily engaged in distributing funds to other organizations or individuals
Cannot use grant funds for an inherently religious purpose (see guidelines for exceptions)
Cannot be any of the following: An educational institution; a social, recreational, sports or booster club; a private foundation.

The grant applications will be evaluated based on the following:

A High Quality Written Narrative including:
- A description of the organization including, mission, goals and history in Inyo County
- A description of significant community benefit in the past and during COVID-19
- A description of the direct and indirect impacts to services during the pandemic
- A description of the intended uses of the grant funds
Outline of COVID-19 financial impacts supported by comparative financial statements and tax returns
Community Benefit, particularly agencies that serve the needs of our disenfranchised or disadvantaged citizens, thereby improving the quality of life in Inyo County
Quality and completeness of application